Vehicle-spring



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

B. F. MORSE.

VEHIGLE SPRING.

Patented Nov. 19, 1889.

I" v v WITNESSES.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-8heet 2.

E. P. MORSE.

VEHICLE SPRING.

N0. 415,415. Patented NOV. 19 1889.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EVERE' I F. MORSE, OF TRUMANSBURG, NEW YORK.

VEHICLE-SPRING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,415, dated November19, 1889.

Application filed May 6, 1889. SerialNo. 309,783. (No model.)

To all whom it nmy concern.-

Be it known that I, EVERETT F. MORSE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Trumansburg, in the county of Tompkins and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in VehicleSprings and Gears, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of my invention are to provide means for adjusting theflexibility of the spring to suit its different loads, to provide animproved bearing for vehicle-springs, and to effect certain improvementsin the details of the spring described in my application, Serial No.2%),857, filed September 1t, 1887. I attain these objects by themechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 isa bottom view of a vehicle-gear with myimprovements attached. Fig. 2 isan end view of the front end of the same, having a portion broken awayand showing parts in section. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View of thecentral part of my spring. Fig. at is a detail view of the step-arm,showing the manner of attaching it and the springs to the side bars.Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views of the adjusting mechanism. Figs. 7 and 8are detail views of my improved bearings and the manner of attachingthem to the torsion-rods. Fig. 9 shows cross-sections of the part of thespring-rods subjected to torsion. Fig. 10 is a cross-section of the sidebar,.showing the manner of attaching the spring-arm to same.

Fig. 11 is a detail view of the adjusting-nuts, showing the manner ofretaining them in place. Fig. 12 is a longitudinal view of my improvedbearing and means for securing the same to the side bar in alignmentwith the other bearings. Fig. 13 is a partially-sectional detail view ofthe bearings under the forward end of the body. Figs. 14: and 15 aresectional views of modified forms of my knife edge bearings, showing theknife-edges with broader bases than in the preceding views.

Si milarletters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings, A is the front axle, B the rear axle, D D the sidebars, and A the bol ster, all of which are arranged and constructed inthe usual way, and connected together as shown.

O is the body, hung to the side bars by my improved springs. The upperend of steparm R is divided into two curved branches, Fig. 4, one B ofwhich, extending backward, is attached to the side bar by a clip forthat purpose; but the branch R, extending forward, is flattened near itsend and extends between sidebar D andhanger b to the forward spring,whereby when the hanger b is firmly attached to the side bar by clip Dthe branch R is also rigidly secured thereto. By this arrangement onlyone extra clip is required to very firmly attach the step-arm to theside bar. Arms R, which extend laterally from step-arms R at any desiredpoint of their lengths, curve downward and are provided with suitableshoulders near their free ends, which are threaded to receiveretaining-nuts, and provide means for securely attaching thestaying-rods m and a to the steparms at any desired distance below thebody and in a graceful manner.

It is very desirable that the bearings or joints of vehicle-springsshould work quietly and freely at all times without the aid oflubricants. I attain this end by a peculiar form of knife-edge bearing,consisting of a grooved seat-pin i and knife-edge 2'', arranged as shownin Figs. 10, 12, and 14, so as to replace the ordinary joint-pin of thecommon bearing. In its simplest form and as applied to the presentspring the bearing is illustrated, in Fig. 7 showing an end sectionalview of the joint when adapted to connect the spring to the body, inFig. 10 showing an end view of the joint adapted to connect one of thespring-arms b with the side bar D, but having one of theretaining-screws 2' Fig.

2, removed, and in Fig.12 showing a longitudi nal sectional view of thesame. The seat-pin i, which forms the supports for the knife-edge i, issupported at its ends by the arms of swinging hanger b, as shown in Fig.12, or similarly by the arms of hanger c, and is adjusted in itssupports so that the groove which extends lengthwise of it faces theforce the pin is to resist, and is rest-rained from moving in itssupports by the screws '5 Fig. 12, which extend into the groove of theseat-pin i and have their threads engage partly with the seat-pin andpartly with the arms of the supporting hanger. The tubular portion bloosely encircles the pin 1' between its terminal supports and rests onthe knife-edge t", which lies lengthwise in the groove of seat-pin i.

In Fig. 14 a bearing is illustrated in which the seat-pin i andknife-edge 1'', although having a more complicated form, possesses someadvantages over the one heretofore described. In this bearing theknife-edge is provided with a much broader base by the curved ribsprojecting from either side of the sectoral part, and, the seat-pin 11has the portion below its horizontal diameter corresponding in size tothe tubular portion f and the portion above this diameter smaller, thusproviding room for the curved ribs between the upper part of the pin andthe tubular portion of the bearing. With this construction the radii ofthe knife-edge and seat-pin can be made equal and to nicely fit thetubular part of the bearing, and the larger base of the knife-edgerestrains it more securely to its proper position in the tubular part.

In the bearings connecting the springs to the side bars above describedthe knife-edge seats face upward and are evidently more likely to retaingrit than those in the bearings connecting the springs and body when thegrooves in pins 2' face downward.

In Fig. 15 a bearing is shown having the seat for the knife-edgeprovided on the knifeedge pin 1" and the knife-edge projecting from theseat-pin 2'. The seat for the knifeedge can thus be made to facedownward in the bearings connecting the springs and side bars.

In the operation of these bearings the oscillating motion of the partsdue to any ordinary working of the spring is effected by the knife-edgepin t" rocking on the, seat-pin 2', and any angular motion exceeding theamount thus provided for is permitted by the tubular part turning on theknife-edge pin as it would on the ordinary joint-pin. This unlimitedangular motion would not, of course, be permitted were the tubular partsand knife-edge restrained to their proper positions by being rigidlyconnected together.

The difference in the curvature of the side bars of the variousmanufacturers makes it desirable that means should be provided foradjusting the bearings connecting the springarms and side bars intoalignment. I attain this end by interposin g the adjusting-blocks 12*,Figs. 4 and 12, having a curved lower surface, between the side bars Dand hanger b the upper surface of the latter being curved to fit thecurvature of block 11 as shown in Figs. 4 and 12. By altering theposition of the adjusting-blocks b lengthwise of the side bar andrelatively to the hanger 6 said hanger will be tipped either forward orbackward, as may be desired, and when in the right position the hangerand block are firmly bolted to the side bar by the clip D.

Hangers b are provided with stops b, which project from their ends intothe paths ofthe swinging shackles b and restrain these I shackles fromswinging outward far enough to permit the body to strike the side bars.

The springs to which my improvements are shown to be applied are fullydescribed in my application, Serial No. 249,857, filed September 16,1887, and consist briefly of elastic metallic rods bent so as to formthe supporting-arms Z), the side torsional branches at, the semicircularparts a under the middle of the body, and the central torsional branches6 e. Arms 1) extending transversely of and under the body have theirouter ends pivotally connected to the side bars, as heretoforedescribed. The side torsional branches at leading from these arms arepivotally connected to the bottom of the body near said arms by hangersc o, and to the central part of the body by boxes 0 and clamps d, whichlatter securely bind together the semicircular parts a of the front andrear springs, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

The adjoining ends of the central torsional branches 6 e andsemicircular parts a have their faces properly formed to act as teeth ofspur-gears, and the spring-rods are formed and. arranged so that theseparts overlap and engage with each other, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Bythis arrangement the angular motion of the semicircular ,parts a arerestrained to equality and each of the central torsional branches tosupport alike all parts of. the body.

The bearings which connect my spring to the central part of the bodyconsist of box 0 a sectional view of which is shown in Fig. 3. This boxis provided with an open side, toward which two bearing-surfacesprovided within said box diverge. The lower one of these surfaces 0 isan integral part of the box, but the upper one, which is movable; isformed by the 'lower face of the wedgeshaped block 9, which is arrangedto slide on ways g, attached to or integral with the box, as shown inFig. 3. A set-screw ciextending through the side of the. box opposite toits open side, is adapted to screw against the block g and force italong ways g toward the open side of the box. Between the divergingsurfaces thus formed a flexible lining 9 preferably of leather, isinserted. The par-- tially-cylindrical end of clamp d is arranged Withinthe box and between this flexible lining. As the lining becomes worn theslack can be taken up by screwing the set-screw farther into the box.and thus forcing the block g nearer the lower bearing-surface. When thesprings are worked, the angular motion of the semicircular parts impartsa vertical vibratory motion to the adjoining ends of the centraltorsional branchese c. It is desirable that the opposite ends of thesebranches 6 6' should be relieved of this motion, so that they may beattached closely to the bottom of the body. To attain this end,

the branches 6 e 'extend from the semicircular parts a obliquely toward,or nearly toward, and to their respective axes of motion in the bearingsconnecting the springs with the body. The central branches 6 6,extending divergingly backward, have their rear ends restrained fromturning by being integrally joined together by the connecting part c,and are restrained from vibrating by clip 6 attaching the connectingpart c to the body, as shown in Fig. l.

The vertical flexibility of my spring is adjusted by throwing one orboth of the re-enforcing torsional branches 6 into or out of supportingaction. For doing this I have provided the following mechanism: The freeends of the re-enforcing branches are pivotally connected to the forwardend of the body-bottom by hangers 6 6 an enlarged sectional view ofwhich is shown in Fig. 13, and are provided with integrally-connectedarms 6, extending toward the longitudinal central line of thebody-bottom. Adjustingbolts m, which extend through the forward sill Gof the body, are supported by the adjusting-nuts p, which receive theirupper threaded ends and rest. on the sill G between the foot-rest u andfront board of the body. The lower portions of these bolts are madesquare and pass through square holes in plate 0 to restrain them fromturning, and their lower ends are provided with hooks which project intothe paths of the free ends of arms 9 as they turn about their pivotalconnections 6 e Adjusting-nuts p are restrained from raising off thesill by spring 3, Figs. 5 and 11,of which the opposite ends extend intothe circumferential grooves in the lower ends of nuts 1), and theintermediate portion bears against the box m, which incloses it and thelower ends of nuts 19, and is securely bolted to sill G. lVhen theadjusting-bolts m are screwed down, the hooks on their lower ends areremoved out of the way of the ends of, arm 6 and the re-enforcingbranches e can turn freely as the spring is depressed, and the body andits load are then supported wholly by the rear central branches 6, andthe spring has its maximum flexibility. lVith one adjusting-bolt mscrewed down and the other up,as shown bythe dotted lines in Fig. 2, onere-euforcing branch 6 is restrained from turning at its forward end,While the other is permitted to turn. The stiffness of the spring isthus re-enforced, and the load is supported by three central torsionalbranches and the spring yields its medium flexibility. \Yith both adjListing-bolts screwed upthe stiffness of the spring is still furtherincreased by both re-enforcing branches being restrained from turning.The load is then supported by all four central branches e e, and thespring has its maximum stiffness. Thus by simply turning theadjusting-nuts p the catches on bolts m can be removed from, as much asdesired, the paths of the free ends of arms 6 as they turn in thebearings e a and the flexibility of the spring adjusted to suit theload. The peculiar position of the adjusting-nuts is such that they canbe conveniently operated by a person either in or out of the vehicle,and are at the same time entirely out of the way, being protected by thefoot-rest u from the feet of the occupants of the vehicle. By restraining the central torsional branches in the manner heretofore described tosupport all parts of the body alike, and from yielding any flexibilityto the bodies tipping either sidewise or endwise, the verticalflexibility alone is increased by releasing one or more of there-enforcing branches 6', and that is increased uniformly under allparts of the body.

The elastic rods forming my springs have rectangular forms throughoutthe parts subjected mainly to strains due to flexion, consisting of thesupporting-arms and the various parts connecting the torsional branches;but these latter, being subjected mainly to strains due to torsion, aregiven a form designed to be well adapted to these particular strains andat the same time to differ from the original rectangular forms in such amanner that the change can be readily made under the rolls or hammer. Inthese torsional branches the rectangular rods are divided into two heavyparts M, Fig. 9, by a longitudinal groove in the middle of the widersides. These grooves may extend entirely through the rods, as shown inthe top cross-section of Fig. 10, or be of such a depth as to leave athin web connecting the heavy parts a as shown in the lowercross-secti0ns. This latter is an easier form to make, and the webrestrains the parts a to the same relative positions while the rods arebeing tempered, while it is so thin that it interferes very little withthe independent action of the heavy parts as torsion-rods. For economicreasons the heavy parts are given a quite or nearly circular form. Across-section of increased resilience may thus be obtained havingapproximately the same strength to resist torsional strains as therectangular supportingarms have to resist transverse strains. Thetubular portions of the knife-edge bearings connecting the springs withthe body have two arms 0 extending from them adapted to press eitherside of the spring-rod a, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

To adapt thearms c to grasp the rod a firmly, their inner surfaces aremade the one with a sharper and the other with the same or sharpercurvature than the respective faces of the bar they are to bear against.In the present case, where the rods a have plane faces, as shown inFigs. 7 and 8, the inner surface of the one arm may be straight or planeand the other curved toward the rod, as shown. lVh'en the arms thusformed are forcibly drawn together by the bolt 0, the bar is grasped atits edges on one side and at or near its middle on the other in a verysecure manner. In the present case the bearin g receives a downwardpressure. Therefore the upper arm should be the one adapted to bearagainst the edges of the bar.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a side-bar wagon, the combination, with the side bars andspring-hangers attached thereto, of an adjusting-block provided with acurved or angular face, said hanger having its upper end adapted to bearagainst the curved or angular side of said block, and the adjusting-block arranged between the side bar and hanger,- whereby the axisof the spring-hanger can be tipped either way by moving theadjusting-block endwise relatively to the hanger, substantially asdescribed. p

2..A vehicle-spring bearing consisting of a seat-pin supported at itsends, a tubular portion surrounding the seat-pin between its supports,and a knife-edge pin extending lengthwise within said tubular portionand adapted to rock on said seat-pin, substantially as described.

3. A vehicle-spring bearing consisting of a grooved seat-pin having itsends supported in the arms of a hanger, a tubular portion surroundingthe seat-pin between said arms, and a knife-edge pin arranged lengthwisewithin 'said tubular portion and adapted to rock on its edge in thegroove of the seat-pin, said seat-pin being restrained from moving inits supports by 'a screw extending into its groove, and having itsthreads engaged partly with the seat-pin and partly with thesupportinghanger, substantially as described.

4. A vehicle-spring consisting of supporting-arms and torsional rodsformed from continuous pieces of metal, the cross-sections of the armsbeing substantially rectangular, and the cross-sections of the torsionalrods being similar to the figure 8 and formed by longitudinal grooveextending along the middle of its wider sides, substantially as and forthe purpose described.

5. In a vehicle-spring consisting of supporting-arms, side torsionalbranches extending from said arms, central torsionalbranches rigidlyconnected with said side branches, the central torsional branchesextending from said connections with the side branches obliquely towardor obliquely nearly toward and to their respective axes of motion in thebearings connecting the springs with the body, substantially as and forthe purpose described.

6. In a vehicle-spring consisting of su pporting-arms, torsionalbranches rigidly connected thereto, means for restraining said torsionalbranches to equal angular motion under the middle of the body, torsionalrods connected rigidly with said torsional branches at one end andprovided with transverselyextending arms and pivotally connected to thebody at the other end, and means for throwing said arms into and out ofrestraint against of a vehicle-spring a re-enforcing torsional rodhaving one end securely attached to said spring, so as to be restrainedto turn as the body is depressed and the other end pivotally connectedto the body and provided with a transversely-extending arm, incombination with a bolt extending through the body-bottom and providedwith a hook at its lower end adapted to extend into the path of the freeend of said arm as it turns about its pivotal connection and having anut screwed on its upper end, whereby said bolt can be raised and madeto restrain said rod from turning, or lowered so that the hook on itslower end shall be removed out of the way of said arm, and thus allowsaid re-enforcing rod to turn freely as the body is depressed,substantially as described.

9. A vehicle-spring consisting of supporting-arms and torsion-rods, thecross-section of said rods consisting of two large portions a connectedby a thin web, substantially as described.

10. A bearing for a vehicle-spring, consisting of a box provided withtwo diverging in ner surfaces, in combination with arm d,having apartially-cylindrical end arranged between and against saidbearing-surfaces, su bstantially as described.

11. A bearing for vehicle-springs, consisting of a box having twodiverging inner surfaces, in combination with a flexible lining insertedwithin said box against said surfaces and adapted to receivefbetween itsadjacent faces the -partially-cylindrical end of clamp (1, substantiallyas described.

12. A vehicle-sprin g bearing consisting of a box provided with a fixedbearing-surface, in combination with a wedged-shaped block arranged toslide against ways fixed to said box, so that one of its faces whichforms a movable bearing-surface extends opposite to said fixedbearing-surface, andra screw passing through one side of said boxand'screwing against said wedged-shaped block in the direction to movesaid surfaces nearer together, substantially as described.

EVERETT F. MORSE.

Witnesses:

SANFORD C. CONDE, CHAUNCY P. GRUGG.

